The weapons were seized by units attached to the Guards' elite Quds Force, which travelled to Libya from their base in southern Sudan.

Acting on orders received from Revolutionary Guards commanders in Iran, they took advantage of the chaos that engulfed Libya following the collapse of the regime of former dictator Colonel Muammar Gaddafi to seize "significant quantities" of advanced weaponry, according to military intelligence officers in Libya.

They say the weapons stolen by Iran include sophisticated Russian-made SA-24 missiles that were sold to Libya in 2004.